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Faked LinkedIn job offers on the rise

Social networks interconnect people with common interests in near real time on a global scale. That's the power of social media. And it's also the reason cyberscammers are mining ways to take advantage.

Ms. Erica, it turns out, existed to help the scammers gather e-mail addresses and passwords useful in a wide array of identity theft capers.

Corporate spokesman Julie Inouye tells CyberTruth that LinkedIn immediately removes profiles that are found to be spreading inappropriate content or engage in spam or phishing.

The company also scans URL's against known blacklists and blocks sites known to be engaged the distribution of malware, spam or phishing sites, she says.

But, at the end of the day, it comes down to social media user caution. "We advise that members exercise caution before clicking links and opening attachments in email messages, as that is a common vehicle for distributing phishing sites as well as malware," says Inouye.

CT: On any given day, how likely is it that a LinkedIn user will encounter a faked profile?

Stanescu: Any LinkedIn user may fall victim to job scams, no matter if he joined a LinkedIn group or not. If a user clicks the 'like' button on a fake recruitment announcement, he spreads it involuntarily to his connections' home pages. Job groups are being flooded with bogus recruitment offers on a daily basis. Scammers have a fruitful business tricking people who are just looking for a job.

CT: Have you notified LinkedIn about this and other malicious profiles?

Stanescu: Yes, Bitdefender works closely with LinkedIn as one of its security partners.

CT: What is LinkedIn doing to police its services; could it be doing more?

Bianca Stanescu is a security specialist at Bitdefender(Photo: Bitdefender)

Stanescu: The LinkedIn security team is constantly monitoring such threats. But figuring out which profile is bogus or not can be tricky. The clues that indicate fake profiles might also indicate that a person was in a hurry or simply didn't take care of er social media appearance. The malicious and dangerous links are the ones that give the 'diagnosis.'

CT: Anything else?

Stanescu: Users should take security and privacy in their own hands. By installing a security solution and keeping it updated, they will have all fraudulent and malicious web sites blocked, no matter if they are tech-savvy and careful, or not. They should also think twice before clicking on a job promising them thousands of dollars for doing nothing and staying home.